What are the new tuition fees for university, college, and vocational school programs in the 2025-2026 academic year?

The Ministry of Education and Training has just announced a draft decree regulating the mechanism for collecting and managing tuition fees for educational institutions within the national education system. From the 2025-2026 academic year onwards, how will tuition fees for university, college, and vocational school programs be calculated?

The Ministry of Education and Training has just announced a draft decree regulating the mechanism for collecting and managing tuition fees, applicable from the 2025-2026 academic year.

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The Ministry of Education and Training has just announced a draft decree replacing Decree No. 81/2021/ND-CP and Decree No. 97/2023/ND-CP regulating the mechanism for collecting and managing tuition fees for educational institutions within the national education system and policies on tuition fee exemption and reduction, support for learning costs; and service prices in the field of education and training.

According to the submission to the Government , the Ministry of Education and Training stated that the purpose of issuing the decree is to review and improve legal regulations on tuition fees, mechanisms for tuition fee exemption, reduction, and support, and support for learning costs, so that ministries, localities, and educational institutions have a legal basis to implement them from the 2025-2026 school year.

Accordingly, the decree applies to preschool children, students, trainees, and postgraduate students studying at educational institutions within the national education system as stipulated by the Law on Education, the Law on Higher Education, and the Law on Vocational Education; educational institutions within the national education system as stipulated by the Law on Education, the Law on Higher Education, and the Law on Vocational Education; and related organizations and individuals.

Tuition fees at public universities: Starting from the 2027-2028 academic year, tuition fees will be adjusted according to people's ability to pay.

The draft decree stipulates the maximum tuition fee for public higher education institutions that are not yet self-sufficient in covering their operating expenses, starting from the 2025-2026 academic year. The tuition fees for the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 academic years are as follows:

According to projections, tuition fees for non-autonomous public universities in the upcoming academic year will range from 15.2 million VND/year to 31.1 million VND/year (depending on the field of study).

From the 2027-2028 academic year onwards, the tuition fee ceiling for public universities will be adjusted to reflect people's affordability and socio-economic conditions, but it will not exceed the rate of increase in the consumer price index at the time of determining the tuition fee compared to the same period of the previous year, as announced by the competent state agency.

For public higher education institutions that are self-financing, tuition fees are set at a maximum of twice the tuition fee ceiling for institutions that are not self-financing.

For public higher education institutions that are self-sufficient in covering both recurrent and investment expenditures, the tuition fee is set at a maximum of 2.5 times the tuition fee ceiling for institutions that are not self-sufficient in covering recurrent expenditures.

For training programs at public higher education institutions that have achieved accreditation according to the standards prescribed by the Ministry of Education and Training, or have achieved accreditation according to foreign or equivalent standards, the higher education institution shall determine tuition fees based on the economic-technical norms or cost norms for each training field issued by the institution; and shall make this information transparent to students and the public.

Tuition fees for public vocational education: Minimum 13.6 million VND/year

The draft decree also stipulates a tuition fee ceiling for college and intermediate-level training programs at public vocational education institutions that are not yet self-sufficient in covering their operating expenses, starting from the 2025-2026 academic year. Accordingly, the projected tuition fees for the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 academic years are as follows:

According to projections, tuition fees for non-autonomous public colleges and vocational schools for the upcoming academic year will range from 13.6 million VND/year to 23.8 million VND/year (depending on the field of study).

From the 2027-2028 academic year onwards, the tuition fee ceiling will be adjusted to reflect people's affordability and socio-economic conditions, but it will not exceed the rate of increase in the consumer price index at the time of determining the tuition fee compared to the same period of the previous year, as announced by the competent state agency.

For public vocational education institutions that are self-sufficient in covering their operating expenses, the maximum tuition fee shall not exceed twice the tuition fee of institutions that are not self-sufficient in covering their operating expenses.

Public vocational education institutions that are self-sufficient in covering both recurrent and investment expenditures have the autonomy to determine and set tuition fees in accordance with the Law on Vocational Education and other relevant regulations.

For high-quality training programs and programs transferred from abroad, vocational education institutions shall determine the specific tuition fees for each academic year and training field under their management based on the economic-technical norms or cost norms of each training sector and profession issued by the institution, and shall publicly disclose these figures before enrollment. At the same time, they must maintain standard training programs within the tuition fee ceiling stipulated by the state to fulfill their function of providing public services and ensuring access to education for learners.

How are tuition fees calculated at private schools?

According to the draft, the principles for determining tuition fees in the decree inherit the regulations in Decree No. 81/2021/ND-CP and update and supplement the regulations of the 2023 Price Law. For public educational institutions, tuition fees are determined according to the principle of covering costs, with reasonable accumulation as stipulated in the Price Law and a roadmap for calculating full costs that is appropriate for each educational level, the socio-economic conditions of each residential area, the rate of increase in the consumer price index, and the annual economic growth rate.

Private and non-profit educational institutions have the right to independently determine tuition fees and prices for other services in the field of education and training (except for services whose prices are set by the State), ensuring that costs are covered and a reasonable profit is accumulated in accordance with the Law on Prices. They must publicly disclose the tuition fees and service prices they decide on, as required by law, and be accountable to students and society; they must explain the components of the price, the roadmap, and the percentage increase in tuition fees in subsequent years (not exceeding 15% for university education; not exceeding 10% for preschool and general education).

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hoc-phi-bac-dai-hoc-cao-dang-trung-cap-nam-hoc-2025-2026-co-gi-moi-185250704100254676.htm